Jorge Jaen Herrera’s Story

Guayaquil, Ecuador
South America

alcoholism
drug addiction

“I am 47 years old and I have been into drugs and alcohol for more than 22 years, maybe even more than half of my life. I grew up in a marginal area of Guayaquil and I started taking drugs at a very early age. When I was 25 years old, I started my artistic activities, but I also started drinking alcohol. I managed to stop taking drugs 8 years ago, but I could not stop the drinking. Nobody in my family used to believe in me. They looked for me in the “Extra” newspaper, where they picture the people who have died, like in accidents, prisoners, etc. When I disappeared, they would check with the police, the highway patrol, the morgue, etc. Those were the places where my mother and brothers searched for me and sometimes they found me there.”

“This year, 2008, I met Maria Jose, who asked me to help her in an art competition project. A little later, we visited her parents, Vicky and Fernando Zurita, in Quito, who run a Homa Center. Immediately I began to take Agnihotra ash and we did the first evening Agnihotra fire. My anxiety for alcohol was so big that I wanted to run away and look for a drink. But I took the Agnihotra ash and that removed the anxiety. I was taking 20 glasses of water with Agnihotra ash daily to get relief.”

“One day, I found a closet full with over 100 bottles of alcohol, which the family had received as gifts. I stood trembling with joy and sadness at the same time; joy, of seeing so many untouched bottles of different brands. Immediately the little devil in my mind came up, instigating me to grab one. But right away I took water with Agnihotra ash.”

“I did not know that Maria Jose and her parents were checking me out. I simply closed the door and went to continue my painting. I did not want to talk about it. And again the little devil came. So I went to the closet to grab a bottle, but surprise: It was empty! They had taken all bottles out. I said ‘OK’ and I stayed 2 months doing Agnihotra and lots of Tryambakam in this Homa Center.”

“Homa Therapy has changed my life and my way of thinking, now I want to do good things in life. There are good things to be done and there are good people. I have been doing Homa Therapy for nine months and I feel very happy. I am again united with my family and this is very important for me.”

“When I used to visit a house for the first time, I would look for the bottles immediately. I was pulled by the advertising of alcohol. That would stimulate me to drink; once I took the first drink, I could not stop until the next day. Now, I don’t care for it. Before I used to worry, what would I do with my time if I stopped drinking? I needed something in my hand, a bottle or a glass. Now, I do something more productive, I paint about the changes in my life. I feel as I have not been drinking for many years, but it only has been for 9 months. My friends ask me: ‘You look younger? What happened to you? What is so powerful that changed you? What a great change!'”

“As you can see in the newspaper, I was well known for partying among the artists, poets, writers and musicians in Guayaquil. I had a studio, called ‘El Ojo del Chicharo’, where under the pretext of creating, the artists would gather at 6 in the morning to consume alcohol. Now, I would call it a ‘Center of Doom.'”

“Now, when my friends ask me, if I want to drink, I reply: ‘No, it doesn’t grab me.’ Homa Therapy has given me the strength and confidence to talk to anybody, looking into their eyes. Now everybody opens the doors for me. Recently I was named the director of the art studio, in the Casa de la Cultura (House of Art) of the province of Guayas.”

Paintings full of suffering and darkness before beginning with the practice of Homa Therapy.

“Now I get exhibition rooms wherever I want. Before, I had to request them and wait up to two years in order to do an exhibition. Now, in this year alone I have had 3 exhibitions. Homa Therapy has opened the doors of gratitude, it is a Divine blessing. Now my family believes in me.
The parents of my friends request me to help their children, because they see the changes in me. A friend, who was involved in drugs and who recently came out of jail, came to participate in Agnihotra and started taking the Agnihotra ash regularly. Now he is clean and his parents are very grateful to me, even though I tell them that I have not done anything. A musician friend, Pichimbo, who had a stroke and suffered from paralysis on one side of his body, came for 21 days in a row to participate in Agnihotra in my house and he took a lot of Agnihotra ash. For three years he could not play the guitar, now he does. This is really a wonderful testimony. Now, my plan is to do Homa Therapy, Agnihotra and Tryambakam Homa with a group of friends in my art studio.”